reading Flashcards
What happened before the post-World War II era that might have influenced it or helped to contextualize it?
●Russian revolution
●Holocaust/Balkan crisis
●Global economic crisis
●mandate system
●Colonial possession
●WW2
What was the purpose of
the Marshall Plan?
The Marshall Plan is the attempt from the United States to financially support the European countries that are hit by the World War II
- to strengthen its international status against the Soviet Union
- to prevent communism prevailing in Europe
How did the Marshall Plan
lead to a period of extended economic growth in Western and Central Europe?
The funds received by the European countries turns into the equipments that are used for industry builds, and started a wave of construction that
resulting in the economy to bloom
Explain ONE specific
“economic miracle”
It is where European nations that are interconnected by communities like ECSC and EEC have greater economic growth than before World War II, like in west Germany
Identify the EEC and its
main purpose
It is a trading community that fosters free trade within other
members of the EEC
the initial members are France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg
Explain the importance of
consumerism to the
European post-WWII
economies.
As the idea of consumerism prevails over Europe, the status quo is being challenged.
More and more people start working as supervisors that allows them to get higher pay.
The number of the relatively expensive appliance ownership increases with the increasing middle class
Truman Doctrine
Financial aid from the US to Western European countries to prevent them to be taken over by communism
● domino theory: if communism prevail in any country, then the
surrounding countries would be affected
policy of containment
Foreign policy of US during the cold war, aiming to prevent the
spread of communism, rooted in the Truman Doctrine
Explain the makeup of the
UN General Assembly and
the Security Council.
UN National assembly
●Purpose: mediation of dispute between nations
●Founding member:
○Franklin Roosevelt (US President)
○Winston Churchill (British Prime Minister)
Security Council
●Veto powers: US, Soviet Union, China, UK, France
have the right to not approve decision that conflicts with their
interests
occupation of Germany and Berlin as defined at Yalta.
Yalta Conference (February 1945)
● They agreed that Germany and Berlin should be divided into four zones, each would be under the control of one of the Allied powers: France, Britain, US, Soviet Union
● The three western country controlled zone wanted to emerge into one so they can have democratic city in the Soviet zone of Germany
Explain other decisions at
Yalta and Potsdam that
increased tension between
the allies.
Issue of Self-Determination in Eastern Europe:
The Western Allies emphasized the principle of self-determination.
They wanted the countries of Eastern Europe, which had been
liberated from Nazi control by the Soviet Union, to have the right to choose their own governments through free elections. This was based on the belief that each country should have the autonomy to determine its own political affairs without outside
interference.
Stalin insisted that these countries should remain under Soviet influence because he feared that free elections might lead to the creation of governments hostile to Soviet interests. As a result, by 1948, the Soviet Union had established pro-Soviet governments in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary, effectively denying these countries the ability to freely determine their political systems.
Creation of a buffer zone:
Stalin believed that the security of the Soviet Union depended on the creation of an encirclement of communist-controlled countries along its western border
Explain Churchill’s Iron
Curtain Speech
“Iron curtain” countries are countries under Soviet domination
Winston Churchill warned of the growing influence of the Soviet
Union in Eastern Europe, separating the Western democracies from the Communist East.
Berlin Blockade/Airlift
Berlin Blockade
- The Soviet Union blocked the western countries’ ground access to west zones
- Purpose: control all of Berlin, cut their connection to the city
Berlin Airlift
- United States & Britain organized to flying in supplies to sustain the city’s residents everyday
two Germanys
After the Berlin Blockade, Germany was officially divided into two separate states:
West: Federal Republic of Germany
East: German Democratic Republic
nuclear arms race
An era where both parties were attempting to increase the power and number of weapons
○ This was after Russia’s response to the US’ atomic
bombs with their nuclear bomb drop
○ This was a key part of the Cold War, with both countries
(Russia + US) unwilling to enter an unwinnable nuclear
war that would cause mass damage to the rest of the
world.
Cuban Missile Crisis
The peak for the threats of nuclear war
○ Soviets support Fidel Castro’s government in Cuba
■ America continuously attempted to take down
Castro’s government but were unsuccessful
○ 1962 - The Soviets decide to place their missiles in Cuba
■ These missiles caught on camera by a U-2 spy
plane
● President John F Kennedy demands for the removal of these missiles and blockades Cuba
● Khrushchev ends up agreeing to the terms and decided to recall if Kennedy didn’t invade Cuba
○ Kennedy also accepts the terms and also removed missiles from Turkey
Aftermath: A telephone hotline was created between the two
countries and both also agreed to ban the testing of nuclear
weapons in the atmosphere
significance of the space race and note the key events
The Space Race was an unofficial competition between the Soviet Union and US , with both trying to prove their
technological superiority over the other. Some key events
include:
October 1975 - The USSR successfully launched
Sputnik, the first man-made object to ever enter Earth’s
orbit
March 1961 - The first manned orbit of the Earth was
done by USSR’s Yuri Gagarin
■ US become afraid of The Soviets spying from space
■ NASA established
July 1969 - Apollo touches down on the moon, giving the US the win for the race to land humans on the moon
US propaganda against communism and the Soviet Union.
Using mass media, the US tried to display the benefits of
Western living to the eastern Europeans and Soviets
○ Their main goal was to show the advantages of their lifestyle compared to life in the USSR
Did this through radio like Voice of America and Radio Free Europe
■ Two government sponsored programs
